Optimise duplicate products or canonical link

[LadyApollo]

We exist in a niche market with a good % of products that sell well at specific times of the year.

Lets say for example a red cup can be sold as a christmas red cup and a valentine red cup or just a red cup.

Would we be best to optimize each specific product specifically for those seasons/events on different pages or keep google pointed to just one page using a canonical link.

[LadyApollo]

If we decided not to optimize would it be better to 301 or canonical link. I've read arguments for both?

[DanSpeicher]

That's up to you.

Changing the product headings and descriptions for each seasonal product version will take more time, but it may make your product appear more relevant to your customers. And you won't have duplicate content, but the content will be similar.

But if the same cup is going to be advertised as a Christmas Red Cup and a Valentine's Day Red Cup, you could get away with just updating the page season-by-season and having one page version.